Diablo
by Tjin
Summary: One of my Stories i never posted here, Xander ends up in a world of Darkness.


**Diablo**

Chapter 1

I don't own Buffy or Diablo

--

The nausea slowly wore off as Xander lay on the ground in pain, he could still feel the electricity arcing across him as his body twitched in the dirt.

His vision was blurred and a slight ringing in his ears was more than enough to warn him he was in worse trouble then he wanted to be even as a red blob advanced on him.

The small demon like creature moved close enough for him to see and Xander tried to force himself up, tried to force himself to fight. As the creature drew a short sword from its sheath Xander realized he was going to die.

With a scream of rage Xander forced himself up and gripped the now squealing thing around the neck and twisted violently until a cracking sound ended the gibbering of the thing.

Even as Xander collapsed he faintly heard the approach of a wheeled vehicle from behind him, as he felt himself being lifted he glanced at the figure of a weather worn, though smiling, man before the world slowly faded away.

*****

Xander's hearing came back first as he listened to the murmur of voices fade in and out along with the crackling of a fire nearby.

"Half dead… neck with his bare hands," one voice was saying when a slightly more irate voice cut in.

"I don't care if he walked on water and rebuilt the… in a day," he heard as he strained to hear more.

"Gently now," a soft voice said as he heard the speaker kneel down beside him. "The child, he was injured and we helped him, there is no threat in him," the voice said with a tone that spoke of ages spent teaching those who would not learn.

With a gasp he opened his eyes to an elderly woman in a black dress, a blue shawl wrapped around her to help keep off the chill as she looked down at him.

"Rest easy child, there is little threat here," she said and slowly reached out and laid her hand on his forehead, with a sigh Xander slipped back to sleep.

*****

His eyes flashed open at the first screech from nearby; with a start he forced himself up and grimaced against the pain as dozens of the red creatures, similar to the one he had killed, swarmed over the wooden palisade walls, even as the men and women of the camp rushed to stop them.

When he tried to move he felt the pain rush through his side and he collapsed against a nearby wagon. His thoughts of the fight gone as he tried desperately to draw a breath.

A scream of pain brought Xander back as he saw through the fire a young woman in armor, barely his age fall to the ground, a wicked axe buried in her side.

At that point, Xander lost all pain, his focus entirely on the red thing about to put an end to the life of an ally.

With a roar of rage Xander leapt across the crackling fire pit and flew into the creature. As they tumbled to the ground the smaller creature snarled and spit as it jabbered away in a strange tongue. Remembering his last encounter with these things Xander forced it back with a kick as his hand closed around a blood slick rock, as the creature picked itself up and rushed him again Xander brought the rock across and connected with the creatures head and splattered more blood across the small camp.

Looking around Xander noticed the fight was over and several of the warriors stood near with weapons but seemed 'reluctant' to move closer.

He never saw the armored woman move up behind him, though he did feel the strike to the back of the head before he blacked out completely. The last thing he heard was the elderly voice speaking to the one who hit him.

"Now Kashya calm yourself, he assisted us tonight and rescued one of your rogues. Let him rest and we will speak with him tomorrow."

**2. Chapter 2**

Chapter 2  
Xander woke to a pounding headache and the taste of stale vomit. Sitting up Xander took in his surroundings; several armed figures stood close at hand while others seemed to avoid him with nothing more than a scared glance.

As he forced himself to his feet Xander saw the armored figures tense and drop their spear tips in his direction.

"Hey, okay… no standing," he said as he scooted back from the spear tips and focused on a red-headed woman stride towards him with a sneer.

"Well outlander, you're either very brave to walk the Blood Moor alone, or very foolish. Either way, as soon as you're fit you must leave." She nearly spat out as Xander tried to remain standing.

"Blood Moor? Where the hell is that?" Xander mumbled as he tried to work up enough saliva to spit some of the taste out of his mouth.

The woman was about to respond when she was interrupted by the older woman from before.

"The Blood Moor is just beyond the walls, many dark creatures roam it and they have kept us under siege for many months now," she said as she held a small bowl of water out to him.

"Drink and spit to rid yourself of the taste child, most of my less bitter potions were lost in the monastery when we fled the forces of darkness," she said as Xander complied with her orders and sat back down before he looked at her again.

The woman from last night… Will she…" he left the dreaded question hanging as he looked into her eyes.

"Ashira will live thanks to you," she said as Xander leaned back and sighed.

"What was that thing last night? I've seen demons before but that one was new to me," he said as he thought back to them. "They seem rather… I don't know, simple," he said and flinched at the glare from the redhead.

The elderly woman saw the glare as well and looked at her pointedly. "Calm yourself Kashya. He has twice killed them unarmed so his question is valid," she said before she turned back to Xander. "Forgive her, she has seen too many of her sisters fall to them in the past months and it pains her that you are able to deal with them so… easily," she said as Xander turned back to her.

"Sorry for her loss, just after three years of fighting vampires and demons that are 'at least' four times my speed and strength the thought of fighting something as strong or weaker than myself makes it a bit easier," he said before he got concerned from the looks the older woman and Kashya were giving him. "What? What did I say?" He asked as the older woman moved closer.

"Child look at me," she said and waited as Xander focused on her again. "I am Akara, High Priestess of the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye and First Seer of the Darkness of Diablo… Tell me in truth that you have fought Leeches for three years of your life," she said softly as Xander became fully focused on her.

He doubted he could lie if he wanted to as he stared into her eyes. "Yes, for three years I've fought beside the Slayer in the Hunting of Vampires," he whispered before he was released from her gaze as she turned back to Kashya.

"Kashya you may remove your guards from him, if he could defeat the Leeches for three years at his age… perhaps he may be the one to succeed where others have failed," she said as she smiled back at the now sleeping Xander.

**3. Chapter 3**

Chapter 3  
A week later  
it had been a week since his abrupt arrival at camp

Ignoring the glares of the guards Xander ducked into the tent with a smile.

"Hey Ash, feeling better?" he said as he kneeled near the healing Rogue

"Only when I breathe Sander" Ashira said as Xander winched at the nickname

"It's Xander, say it with me here. zzzzz-ander" he as she just smiled

"And my name is not Ash, it is Ashira, and Kashya is not K-woman" she said with a smirk as Xander scowled.

"Ooh really? In that case it's time for your medicine, if you skip it Akara has threatened to feed me Windigo oil for a week and since I have no idea what one of those are I've decided to ere on the side of caution" he said as he pulled out a thick brown potion.

With a grimace Ashira swallowed the heavy concoction and tried to work the taste out of her mouth "This is definitely a good reason to avoid being hurt Sander"

Xander grinned as he set the food down beside her "Akara says she's considering keeping the bitter stuff when she goes back to the citadel because so few rogues want to stay in her care now" he said Ashira laughed for a moment before gasping in pain.

"Ooh that hurts" she said before chuckling again. "But it feels good to laugh again, thank you zzzzz-ander"

With a nod Xander walked out of the tent. And nodded to Akara "She's eating and she seems to be in better health today" he said as the elder seer nodded.

"Thank you Xander, and May the blessing Azul Shine on you for your compassion" she said as Xander just nodded.

"Akara, I hate to be a bother but" he trailed of as he saw a smile in Akara's Eyes.

"But you would like to ask how long before you can find a way back home" she asked and smiled as Xander blushed.

"Am I really that easy to read?" he asked as the elder woman just nodded.

"Yes Xander, you are… to one who sees of course" she whispered the last part to him before handing him a small red potion.

"This is all that I am able to spare from my less bitter stores, if you could find the Athales plant while you are outside I shall be able to make more" she said as Xander grinned.

"Cool… what's the Adams lasts plant look like?" he said as Akara shook her head.

"The Athalas plant is a small herb with tiny white flowers, it grows wherever blood has been spilled" she said sadly "I believe this will be one of the greatest seasons for it in recent memory" she said before putting a smile on her face.

"Perhaps you should speak to Charsi or the rogues to see if any of them have some spare weapons"

Xander nodded at the idea but refused to let her change the subject "Akara it's not your fault, the mayor" he paused as he tried to find a close approximation of the Mayors rank "The leader of our tribe had a dark pact with the forces of hell for over a hundred years, just because something is evil does not mean it's easy to see"

With a sigh he thought about Faith "And just because you see it does not mean your immune to its touch" he said sadly

Touching his arm Akara looked into his eyes "So much Wisdom from one so young" she said before she smile "Enough of this weather talk, off to Charsi with you. And then you can show these forces of darkness your own touch"

With a grin Xander rushed off to the black smith

Xander consider sneaking up on Charsi until he remembered her hitting a fallen across the face with a red hot blade she had jerked from the forge //On second thought//

"HEY CHARSI!" he yelled as she turned around and smiled

"Hi Xander, what can I do for you today?" she asked in a chipper mood that was completely off from the huge mallet she carried with ease.

"Akara sent me to see if you have any spare weapons I can use when I head out?"

Charsi nodded and turned to answer when she was interrupted.

"NO" Kashya shouted as she stormed over "Those weapons are for my rogues in the fight against this evil" She growled as she glared at Xander "Not for some 'Outlander' who is probably a spy for the Darkness"

Xander was about to respond when he was shoved out of the way by an enraged Charsi

"WRONG!" she screamed as the Rogue captain stepped away "the metal for these weapons were bought by ME, these weapons were forged and created by ME" she shouted before taking a step forward again "And I don't know what your problem with Xander is but these weapons are for ME to SELL, GIVE OR USE ON ANYONE I WANT" she finished as she toward over the smaller rogue.

Kashya just glared back for several seconds before storming off into the camp.

Xander sat on the ground for several seconds after the confrontation before he looked up at the Blacksmith "Well… is that a no on the gear?"

**4. Chapter 4**

Chapter 4  
Charsi glared at him for several seconds before the next mood swing seemed to hit.

"No Xander, But it does mean I will have to be careful to only give you the basics" she said before leaning in "Until you pay for better that is, I'd hate to kit you out in full platemail only to find out you died when you tripped over the bridge outside and drowned"

Xander glared for a second before sighing "Charsi, it was a small mistake and it only happened once" he practically whined as they walked over to the weapons area.

Charsi laughed as she thought back to Xander's first day about camp "Xander you where swaying around like a drunken Paladin and you 'tripped' over Gheed" She said as Xander glared at her again.

"Hey I didn't really break anything and I did prove he was cheating" he mumbled as he remembered the glares the 'Used Cart Salesmen' had cast at him as the entire camp were demanding their money back.

Charsi was finally able to stop laughing as she picked up a few items for him "That's only because you crashed into the armor section, if you had been two feet over I think you would be resting next to Ashira for multiple stab wounds when that swords display fell over"

Xander looked at the assorted gear she had shown him and smiled "So how much of this stuff do I get?"

His face fell when She pointed at a stack of assorted weapons "One from there" she said before she pointed at the shield "And one from there, or else you can have two weapons or one double weapon"

As Xander looked over the weapons he considered his options //Sword, Axe, Mace, Short spear// Picking up a Pair of wrist claws he considered it for a moment before shaking his head and looking some more.

It was several minutes later he finally decided on a wooden shield and Axe he had seen in Viking movies.

Charsi looked at his selection and smiled "That is a good Axe Xander, please don't lose it"

Xander turned with a shocked look "Why Charsi, you make me out to be some sort of klutz" he said as he fought a smile down.

Charsi looked at him for a second before smiling "Xander, I saw you jump through the camp fire and kill a Fallen with your bare hands" She said as Xander smiled before she continued "The day before you went stumbling about camp and fell into an armor display." She said as Xander's face fell.

"Your never going to let me live that down are you" he grumbled as she laughed again.

"No Xander, I will not. Now go and see Akara, I hear she wanted to speak to you about something when you had your weapons"

**5. Chapter 5**

For newvitae.  
Now you see what bugging me gets you. (Thanks for the feedback.)

Xander growled as he peeked out from behind one of the few trees in the outer reaches of the cold plains in search of the fallen Rogue that had been pestering him for the last fifteen minutes

Jerking his head back in as an arrow sunk into the ancient weathered wood where his head had just been, Xander realized that if he didn't get out of this position soon the last three months of helping the Rogues would mean slightly less than nothing.

//And Ashira will be sooooo pissed if I get myself killed.\\\\ he realized as a plan came to his mind.

Considering any alternatives, Xander opened the small box at his hip and pulled the flask from the packed sawdust he had used to keep it from breaking open.

Saying a quick prayer, Xander launched the vial in the direction of the rogue before rolling out from behind the tree. The ka-thunk sound of the enemy's arrow was a mere prelude to the blast as the thrown vial exploded moments after shattering several feet in front of his target.

Rolling to his feet Xander took a running start before launching himself through the flames as an arrow hissed by his ear.

Ignoring the heat, Xander crashed into the Rogue with his shield, knocking her to the ground.

Taking the second of reprieve to pat the flames from his pants Xander turned back as the insane Rogue let out a beastial snarl as she charged him with a short sword.

Dropping under the swing Xander used his shield and her momentum to catapult her over him.

Turning around Xander almost froze at what he was about to do until he remember what this particular band of Fallen Rogue's had done to the inhabitants of the small farmhouse.

Ignoring the knot in his stomach Xander brought the Axe down on the Rogue's head with a sickeningly wet sound.

Pulling the Axe out, Xander emptied his stomach of its contents on the ground beside his enemy. Wiping his mouth he pulled the short sword from the dead woman's grasp before shoving the corpse into the flames.

--  
Akara watched as the young man stumbled into camp and collapsed near the fire before stripping his Shield and weapons off.

Walking up carefully Akara sat next him while he stared mutely into the flickering flames as the last rays of the sun slowly seeped away.

"Alexander…" She said softly. He looked up with a start before shaking his head and looking back at the fire.

"There all gone, I made sure none of them got away." Xander said before sinking back into thought.

"This one was difficult?" She asked as he slowly rubbed his hands together.

"In a way, this was harder than staking my first Vampire." Xander said as he watched the flames dance.

Akara waited patiently for him to continue, she may be a priestess of the sightless eye but that didn't mean she was blind.

"His name was Jesse, Both our mom's had been friends and their parents had been friends. So me and Jesse were brothers in every way that counts." Xander said as he looked up and sighed. "Vampires took Willow and Jesse, I managed to get Willow out in time, but Jesse… The next night an ancient Vampire was destined to rise during The Harvest, Jesse was there and I..." Swallowing heavily Xander bypassed that part.

"My Dad was abusive, and the only thing that kept my Mom stable was Jesse's mom. When Jesse disappeared his mom started going out to search for him and about six months after the Harvest she was found. Just another victim of 'Wild Animal' attacks. My mom started drinking and has hasn't been sober since."

Akara nodded as she realized how much harder this was compared to her introduction to the Darkness, no great monsterus evil or greater plan but the simpler evils of man and lesser devils of alcohol lead to the destruction of his home life, leaving nothing for him to fight against to save it.

//So he dedicated his life to standing against the evils he could fight.\\\\ she realized before changing the subject. "Why was this harder?"

Silently thanking her for not pushing the subject, Xander shrugged at the question.  
"I kill Demons because they're evil, I can kill Vampires because they're no longer human, they're Demons in the bodies of the dead." he said before looking up at her. "But this, these were humans, they were corrupted and evil but they were still human." Xander said as he looked back at the fire. "I've never killed a human before." He whispered.

Putting her hand on his shoulder, Akara slowly bled off some of his pain. "They weren't you know." She said before nodding at his look of confusion. "They weren't human."

Shaking his head in confusion, Xander started to argue before Akara continued.

"Humans don't make pacts with devils, humans don't raise the bodies of the fallen to fight in an unholy war, and humans don't do what they did to the innocents in that farmhouse." She explained and let him think of that for a second before continuing. "Vampires are demonic spirits within the bodies of the dead, these were Demonic spirits within the living." She said before slowly using what little power she had to slip him into a dreamless sleep.

"Good Night Alexander, and may the blessing of Azule shine on you this night and light your way from this darkness." She prayed before going in search of Charsie.

**6. Chapter 6**

Written for darkwwwish and neovente

--

With a snarl Xander sunk the axe into the undead zombie's skull before ripping it out and cleaving the thing's head from its body. As it finally fell, Xander looked over the small army of the undead to the person responsible for it all.

Blood Raven.

She had been one of the rogue's greatest generals before she betrayed them for power.

Desperately gasping for breath, Xander resettled his shield and charged just as the insane rogue finished her spell, summoning another handful of undead.

Jumping over the small mountain of rotting flesh Xander felt the cold bite when one of Blood Raven's arrows founds it mark in his side, he ignored the pain and the slowly spreading burning sensation as the poison started to make its way through his system. Shutting away the pain, he rushed the possessed monster and desperately tried to get inside her range.

Xander remembered the fight in flashes as the poison started to take hold.

His shield splintering into kindling as one of Blood Raven's arrows destroyed the wooden defender.

His axe coming down on Blood Raven's bow and both weapons shattering under the blow.

His hand closing on the hilt of the short sword and the abrupt jerking of the blade as Blood Raven's head rolled from her shoulders.

The last conscious memory was of stumbling towards the graveyard exit after the fallen rogue's body exploded when the demonic energy inhabiting it forced its way from the prone body.

--

"Are you INSANE!"

Xander held his head and groaned as the world exploded from the young rogue's yell.

"Going up against Blood Raven on your own, do you have a death wish or something?" Akara growled at a more subdued volume when she realized the pain Xander was in.

"Hey" Xander defended as the throbbing in his skull fell to an almost tolerable level. "I survived didn't I?" Xander said before recoiling at the look the young rogue sent his way.

//This is going to end badly.// he decided.

--

Xander looked up from the tracks with a frown as he tried to figure out where the annoying demon had run off to.

"You're lost aren't you?"

"No I'm not lost."

"You're Lost."

Xander let out a suffering sigh before glaring back at his companion. "I am NOT lost." Xander insisted as Ashira just raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Why don't you just stop for a second and ask someone."

It was Xander's turn for disbelief before he gazed around at the never ending trees of the Dark Woods surrounding them before he looked back. "Who? We've been away from camp for five weeks looking for this stupid scroll and we have yet to see one person that wasn't A.) Dead. B.) Trying to kill us or C.) Both dead AND trying to kill us." Xander asked before looking back down at the tracks. "Now if it's no bother, can you help me look for this Carver so we can try to figure out where the scroll is."

"Well I don't know about the carver but do you think _they_ might know where it is?"

Looking up from the tracks Xander's irritation was immediately replaced with a slight terror as four hulking behemoths lumbered towards the two adventurers.

Jerking the double axe off his back, Xander charged the largest one as it let out a bellow of rage at its victims.

--

Five minutes later and they were down to their last two enemies.

"This is your fault." Ashira said as she dropped under one of the behemoth's swings and danced back before firing into the large target the creature presented her.

"My fault? How is this MY fault?" Xander asked in surprise as he swung his axe up and grinned slightly when the large monster's hand dropped from its body.

"You got us lost, you didn't stop and ask for directions, therefore it's YOUR FAULT!"

As his axe sunk into the neck of the arrow riddled beast, Xander smiled when the creature finally collapsed to the ground before spinning and running towards the creature threatening the young rogue.

"Yeah yeah, yeah, it my fault. It's always Xander's fault. Let's just blame everything on me." He griped as he hacked at the monster trying to complicate his continued existence.

Grinning as she finally made it far enough back to aim, "Very well, we will." Ashira said as she pulled one of her specialty arrows from the quiver and took half a moment to aim before loosing the projectile.

As the arrow sped across the short distance separating the two, the young rogue put two more arrows to flight before it impacted.

As the first arrow hit the magic imbued in the weapon froze the monstrosity where it stood.

Her second arrow coupled with Xander's axe served to shatter the frozen monster.

As Xander collapsed to the ground, Ashira silently shifted the rapidly thawing meat before flipping a bloody roll of paper towards Xander.

Xander, for his part merely stared at the object of their search before glaring up at the smirking woman in front of him. After several seconds of trying to think up a response, he settled for stuffing the paper in his backpack and pulling out the scroll of Town portal.

He'd let her smirk all she wanted as long as he managed to get clean and sleep in a warm bed tonight.

**7. Chapter 7**

Tristram, location of Diablo's first defeat and the place he had gone out of his way to destroy.

"Seems the guy has a bit of a petty revenge streak if you ask me." Xander muttered as he tried to ignore the uneasy feeling that had been growing in his belly since he had walked through the portal of lightning the Cairn stones had created. //And if I ever get home I'm definitely going to pay a visit to Stonehenge.// Xander promised himself as he looked over the burning town he and Ashira were approaching.

"Diablo is the lord of Destruction, the more he destroys the stronger he grows." Ashira whispered as the two of them moved up to one of he burned out buildings. Moving to one of the corners, the young Rogue gripped his arm "Do not let them see you." She hissed.

Peeking around the corner Xander stared in the eyeless sockets of a skeleton for several seconds before jerking back.

"Did they see you?" his traveling companion asked as a hollow roar from around the corner made the question moot.

"I think they may have seen me." Xander answered as he pulled his axe off his back and the two charged around the corner.

--

"HELP, HELP. I'M UP HERE IN THE CAGE."

Xander looked up at the old man as he swung in a cage suspended over town square and cursed.

The skeletons had been an annoyance, but a passing one as their bones lay broken and scattered around the battle site. The hoofed goat men that had charged them as soon as they entered the square were another matter entirely and the old guy shouting at him from above was really starting to grate on his nerves.

Dropping under one of the Cultist's scythes, Xander brought his axe up in a heavy swing and grinned as one of the creature's arms fell away from its body, as his reverse swing removed one of the thing's legs. Xander turned as three more rushed him.

Letting out a roar as he brought his weapon back Xander was more then a little surprised as the three skidded to a halt before turning tail and taking off in the opposite direction.

Never one to ignore good fortune Xander brought his axe strike down on the rope of the cage and ignored the shriek of fear as the man plummeted the twenty feet to the ground.

Taking a glance to make sure Ashira was alright, Xander jerked the cage door off and hauled the man from his prison. "Dekerd Cain?" he asked and took the mans frantic nod as confirmation. "You have to get out of here." Xander shouted as he shoved a scroll of town portal into his hands, Xander pushed him away as the three from earlier finally got over their fear and charged him again.

Xander ignored the flash of light as Cain used the portal to return to the camp.

It was time to cause a little destruction of his own.

--

Xander looked around the town for any more threats before turning to Ashira.

The rogue lay on her back as she held her side to stop the blood from a nasty cut she had received from a skeleton wielding a heavy falchion.

He had managed to stabilize her when the sound of heavy feet moving in their direction drew Xander's attention to the far corner of town.

He swallowed as something resembling a cross between a man and a small mountain walked around the corner and focused on them with a snarl.

"Griswold" Ashira whispered with a gasp of pain.

Watching the behemoth move in fascination, Xander noticed two things. One it was very slow. Two, Xander swallowed as the thing that had once been a man reached through a stone wall to rip out a support pillar to help him pound Xander into a paste.

//Three is that me being hit by him will probably be a very bad thing.// Xander thought as he picked up his axe for another fight.

--

Xander stumbled through the blue portal with the unconscious rogue thrown over his shoulder and the shaft of his shattered battle axe gripped in one hand.

As his feet touched down inside the rogue encampment Xander let the fatigue from his recent fights finally overtake him as he collapsed in a heap.

The last thing he heard before drifting off into his own concussion laden sleep was Kashya yelling for Akara as the rogues' captain ran towards the two.

--

Xander groaned in pain as he heard the verdict. "What do you mean you can't fix it?" he asked desperately as he held the shattered remains of his axe as if he lost a friend.

Charsi shook her head at the very thought of trying to fix the weapon. "You brought me a glorified stick and some broken pieces of metal, I'm sorry Xander but there's nothing I can do." She said simply as she tried to ignore the lost look Xander had on his face.

"B-But, how am I supposed to kill things if I don't have a weapon." He asked as he rubbed his hand over the well worn shaft of what had once been his weapon.

Charsi resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she knew how obsessed some got over their tools. (It was after all a fault she herself suffered from.) "Look, you can buy one of my basic models, you have the cash. And if you're willing to go on a little errand for me I'll even add a special touch to it when you finish." She offered.

Looking up at the big blacksmith Xander finally set the shattered remains of his axe down and nodded. "Okay, I guess I can kill them with something else." Xander said with a sigh as he went to see what Charsi had available.

In truth he had been considering upgrading to a better weapon for a while now, he just really hated having the choice taken out of his hands. "So what's this errand you need?" he asked as he started to check the weight of a heavy Skull Cleaver Charsi had in stock.

"Well, when we fled the monastery…" Charsi said as she started to tell about the Mallus.

**8. Diablo 8**

Xander blinked as he tried to peer through the torrential rain before looking back at his companion. "I think there are some trees ahead." He shouted as the waterlogged Rogue simply responded with an exaggerated nod.

Shrugging it aside, Xander led the way to the trees before stopping in shock at the twelve floating bodies that had driven the two warriors from the trees earlier.

"You were saying?" Ashira growled as Xander glared at the corrupted goat men that had once been acolytes of the blood cult.

Finally resisting the desire to hack the dead into hamburger, Xander turned his glare to the young Rogue that insisted on following him. "If you have ANY better plan, let me hear it, I am quite open to suggestions right now." He half snarled.

Any argument was broken as a massive bolt of lightning drew their attention to the dark forbidding tower it stuck in the distance.

Looking in the direction of the flash, the two stared at each other for a minute before Xander shook his head fiercely. "NO! Absolutely not, you remember what happened the last time we entered an abandoned building. There is NO WAY we are entering a dark foreboding run down tower, it is going to be haunted with a million things that want to kill us in a multitude of painful ways." Xander yelled before finally noticing the rain soaked glare Ashira was sending his way.

"No, No way in hell."

--

Xander's eyes flitted around the exceedingly dusty, but dry chamber the two of them had managed to build a small fire in as they waited for the rain to slack off and try to dry their clothes.

"This is a bad idea," Xander whispered as he carefully shifted his grip on the heavy two handed head splitter Charsi had sold him.

"I don't really care right now, I'm cold, I'm hungry, I'm tired and I'm wet. If the forces of evil want us they can walk their way through the flood waters out there and try to take my scalp from right here, because there is nothing that will make me leave this room." Ashira growled.

The silence that followed that proclamation was broken by a blood curdling scream from below them.

Staring at the floor for a moment both warriors finally looked back at each other with a scowl.

"This is all your fault!" Both declared as one.

--

"Explain how this is MY Fault, cause you know, that part still escapes me." Xander shouted as he skipped back from a translucent form that was trying to sink its ethereal fingers into his neck.

He barely flinched as an arrow hissed past his ear and sunk into the non-existent flesh of the ghost before the spirit faded into nothingness.

"You were the one who talked about monsters coming up at us, you were the one that jinxed us, not me." Ashira said before taking aim at another flickering form and loosing an arrow.

As Ashira's arrow sent the last spirit to its final rest Xander glared at her. "I was the one that said we shouldn't come here, I said we needed to find somewhere else, I told you it was a bad idea and YOU were the one that didn't listen and then laid an ultimatum out that you were not leaving."

"And so far we haven't left, we are dealing with problems from below. If the monsters had come down at us I would accept the fault, as they haven't this is YOUR fault." The young rogue countered as Xander simply stared at her.

"I'm not going to win this one am I?" Xander questioned as Ashira simply shook her head.

Growling about how unfair the universe is, Xander stomped off toward the lower levels.

He suddenly had the urge to turn something into a red paste.

--

Xander stepped into the last chamber and froze as the light tickle of imprisoning wards shifted over him before turning their power back to their captive.

Looking at the only other occupant of the room Xander blinked at the twenty something woman as she dropped the warm corpse she held to the floor and turned to him.

"Okay, vampires ripping throats out, I've seen, but I do believe this is the first time I've ever actually seen someone eating a still beating heart." Xander said as he watched the gruesome meal.

As the woman finished she carefully wiped the last traces of blood from her lips and smiled evilly at him. "I am the Countess Drethar, ruler of the Tomoe Highlands and future queen of all lands, your heart shall help me to escape these thrice damned Horadric shackles and take my rightful place as ruler." She said as her voice echoed demonically around the room.

Swallowing at the surge of power the woman rekeased, Xander forced his fear back and stepped aside to clear Ashira's line of fire. "They were fools to bind you, me I think I'll just take your head off and call it a day." Xander taunted.

The insane countess screamed in rage as flames leapt up around the room cutting off any chance of escaping.

A hissing sound was the only warning the woman had before she seemed to sprout a feathered arrow from her shoulder.

Xander blinked as she stared at the projectile for a moment before ripping it out disdainfully and snarling at Ashira. "Your heart I shall eat first."

With that promise, Xander and Ashira launched themselves at the countess.

--

Xander dropped to the ground and stared as the body of the fallen countess twitched and thrashed on the floor before rapidly aging and finally drifting away into dust.

Taking a deep breath he flinched as his damaged side protested the movement before taking another draw of the thick red concoction that kept him on his feet.

As the aches and pains drifted off, Xander idly wondered if these potions were addictive before shrugging it off. //The first rule is to survive, everything else is secondary.// he thought before looking over at Ashira as she stared at her quiver in shock.

Seeing Xander watching her she tipped it in his direction and Xander blinked as a single arrow rolled around inside the leather.

Staring at the lone projectile Xander swallowed heavily before shaking off the terrifying thought of what would have happened if she had completely run out of ammunition. "Lets get back to town and get you some more arrows." He said simply as he pulled the blue wrapped scrolls from his belt.

As the portal opened up, Xander scooped up everything that might be of value and followed Ashira back to camp.

He was going to have a long talk with Mr. Deckard 'I'm so cryptic and vague I scare myself' Cain about locking up insane immortal royalty and not bothering to inform people.

**9. Diablo 9**

"It's not that bad really, a coat of paint, maybe some nice curtains. I'm sure it'll feel downright homey in no time at all," Xander muttered as he looked up at the looming fortress/church that blocked any transit through the mountains with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"How about we call it a day and leave this for some other random hero to clear?" Xander asked cheerfully before wilting under the glare of his companion. "Yeah I know, dumb question." Xander sighed before settling his shield into a more comfortable position and reaching for the huge double door.

--

Xander gasped in another lungful of air as Ashira did the same beside him. The two had been running for several minutes now, trying to lose the small hoard of Undead that had been chasing them.

"Where… Did they… Learn Magic." Xander gasped out as he looked over the upturned table they were hiding behind for a moment before dropping down as a lightning bolt smashed into their cover.

"How in the nine hells do you expect ME to know that?" Ashira demanded before popping up and loosing an arrow at one of their attackers before taking cover again.

"I don't know, maybe because you've been at this slightly longer than I have." Xander countered as he brought his axe down on the foot of an undead that had walked around their cover.

"Well I don't know where they learned magic, but I think whoever thought it up has been sniffing too many of Akara's 'special' plants." The Rogue growled while she threw one of the fulminating potions at the door and grinned as the collection of animated bones trying to crowd in caught flames.

Xander finished off the undead Mage that he had been dealing with and turned towards the door just in time to watch a massive form shatter the half dozen still standing skeletons with a single blow before stomping through the fire without hesitation.

"Let me guess… Mr. Smith." Xander hazarded and took the demonic monstrosities roar as confirmation. "Yeah, like I didn't expect that." He muttered before throwing a scroll of town portal to the ground and charging the hulking form.

--

"And then I was like 'You did NOT just shatter my new shield' and he was all 'ROAR, I Turn your bones into thumping… stuff' and I was like…" Xander trailed off in the story telling as Charsi walked over to the camp fire with an axe that glowed faintly in the darkness.

"For his efforts in retrieving the Horadric Mallus from the hands of the demonic 'Smith' I offer the first creation." Charsi declared proudly as she handed the weapon to an awe struck Xander. "Its name is Frost Bite, I have imbued within it the frozen voice of the north wind itself." The Rogues' chief weapon smith said as she watched Xander handle the weapon as if it were a child.

"It's… its amazing Charsi." Xander whispered as his breath turned into frozen clouds of vapor when it touched the surface of the weapon.

Staring into the face of the weapon, Xander lost track of time for several minutes before being forced back to the 'real' world by a snapping hand in front of his face. Blinking and jerking back from the sound, Xander followed the arm to glare at a smirking Ashira.

"I'm sorry Xander, did I interrupt you?" the young rogue asked as Xander shook the cobwebs from his head and slipped his new weapon onto his belt.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I'll remember this the next time you get all glassy eyed at the Viper Coil Charsi has in the back room of her shop." Xander mocked and smiled at the far away look his friend got at the thought of her dream weapon.

Letting her have a moment, Xander finally snapped his fingers in front of her face and mimicked her recent smirk as she glared at him. "Come on Ash, lets get some sleep, tomorrow we need to start clearing out those dungeons or everything we've done already will be re-infected with undead." Xander said as he stood up from the circle of warriors that had congregated around the nightly fire and made his way to his tent.

With any luck he wouldn't have any nightmares about what he might face in the cold damp cells beneath the monastery.

--

Xander and Ashira climbed the last steps out of the dungeon and breathed deeply of the semi-clear air within the inner cloister.

Nine hours of hunting undead and worse through the madman's labyrinth had been more then enough for both of them.

As for what they found in the torture rooms… Xander shuddered to banish the memories and smiled at the red-haired rogue that still refused to let him out of her sight. "Well that wasn't so…" Xander's words were swallowed by a scream from deep within the cathedral, looking at each other, the two warriors hefted their weapons and rushed towards the doors.

Throwing the massive things open, Xander and Ashira blinked at the large gathering of undead and demonic beings as they bowed reverently before an alter as a huge skeleton held a green blade over the struggling person tied to it.

Throwing caution to the wind, Xander flexed his legs and launched himself at the seven and a half foot tall undead.

Crashing into the form, Xander blinked as he realized the range he had flown before bringing his axe up in a swing that knocked the arm holding the blade away from its intended victim and bit deeply into the arm bone of its wielder.

--

Turning towards the insect that dare stop it in the middle of the rights of possession, Bone Ash glared at the living meat before reaching forward with it's undamaged arm and gripping it around the throat. Picking the struggling form up, Bone Ash breathed into the thing's face and cackled as the weak living thing started to chough when the undead priest's poisonous essence infected the mortal. Letting it drop to the ground, Bone Ash turned back to its sacrifice and stared at the empty altar.

Turning to find its victim, the reanimated form let out a hollow roar as the female he had gone to great lengths to secure managed to lay her hands on the accursed staff he had pulled from her hands.

In a moment of distraction, the undead priest's greatest victory was shattered as the dark skinned woman turned on him with cold lightning flashing in her eyes while she pointed the staff at him.

With a word, lightning traveled down the length of the staff and leapt to Bone Ash.

As the flash cleared, the gathered horde of demon entities stared at the twitching form of Bone Ash before it finally disintegrated into a pile of broken bones.

The dull thudding sound of the Cathedral doors closing was as a death knell.

None would escape the slaughter that followed.

--

(A/N) Jumping through these a bit I know but I've noticed that unless I get through these parts rather quickly it bogs down and starts to become repetitive (a problem it seems with games that have so little real 'Character interaction' but one I'm trying to work through.)

Hope you all enjoyed the fic and please remember to review?

-Tjin

**10. Diablo 10**

Alexander Harris had a problem, well to be honest he had several, but at the moment his biggest concern was the twenty foot tall Hellbitch with extra spider-like appendages and a truly toxic personality.

Her name was Andariel and she was currently chasing him around the lowest levels of the catacombs while Ashira and Cassandra killed off her little playmates back in the throne room.

It wasn't like he had volunteered for this mission; he had managed to come up with a truly amazing battle plan before he and the deadly duo had stormed into the massive room. Xander had actually been shocked when the plan lasted a grand total of fifteen seconds before Andariel had screamed something and a wave of noxious fumes had swept through the chamber.

He had withstood the effects long enough to see the two women gulp down the antidote potions he had made sure they were stocked up on earlier before he had fled, taking the Hellbitch with him.

Dodging down one of the hallways, Xander dove behind the first pillar he came to and tried to catch his breath. "Why do they always want me?" he complained as he switched his weapons to a short sword and shield combo he had found that always seemed to maintain warmth along the blade. Deckard had proclaimed it a "Blade of Immolation" before jumping into a long winded explanation of the forging and history of such a weapon.

Thankfully Cassandra had been checked out by Akara and had come to his rescue. Smirking at the memory of the young sorceress calling Deckard a pompous windbag before dragging Xander off to "Achieve something of worth," Xander closed his eyes and listened to the thundering footsteps of his pursuer. As the queen passed his hiding place, he jumped out and brought the small sword crashing down on his opponent's legs.

His actions were rewarded by a scream of pain as the demon crashed to the ground. Switching to a heavy chopping strike, Xander managed to sever two of the spider-like appendages before she twisted around and backhanded him, sending him flying.

Xander's last sight was the frozen missile from Cassandra hitting the queen before he impacted a wall and everything faded to black.

--

Xander groaned as the world faded back into focus and he found himself nose to beard with Deckard Cane. "Oh God, why must your humor suck?" Xander moaned as the geezer chuckled.

"It seems you will live to make at least a few more poor jests," Deckard announced before moving away to reveal two women glaring down at him.

"What did I do this time, Ash?" Xander asked as he tried to ignore the pain in … pretty much all of his body.

"Oh nothing much, you just went and got yourself 'killed' is all," the blond Amazon archer said sarcastically as she tried to avoid throttling the idiot she had taken to following.

Xander blinked at the young rogue for a moment before looking down at the massive bruise that covered his body and after a moment of consideration looked back up at the duo. "I obviously got better," He stated before carefully poking one of many sore spots. Gasping in pain, Xander jerked his hand back, "And I'm pretty sure being dead shouldn't hurt this much," he complained before flinching at the glares from the two women.

It was like he just couldn't win.

--

"You were fortunate that Ashira and Cassandra accompanied you Alexander. Had you gone alone, you would most likely be nothing more then a trophy in Anderiel's lair," The High Priestess said with a shake of her head.

Xander nodded at the wise woman that had patched him up after his dance with the demon queen. He may not be the smartest person on the planet to think he could have taken on the demon hordes they had faced beneath the fallen cathedral, but he was truly thankful to the two for finishing off the Hellbitch and saving him. "I know, I just wish it was over," Xander said.

"I do not know what you shall face, Alexander, all I do know is that your fate is entangled with the Dark Traveler and so long as he exists, your way home is sealed from you."

"Yeah, don't worry about it, Akara, I hear he's headed East. Warriv and his caravan are headed that way, so I guess I'll tag alone with them. Ash and Cassie have agreed to travel with me and of course Deckard seems to think I'm useless without his help, so he'll probably be coming along too."

"Do you truly dislike Deckard so, Alexander?" Akara asked as the one time Scooby sighed.

"No, not really, it's just some of the mistakes he and his friends have made that I've had to go back and clean up," Xander explained before shrugging, "I think he's really dedicated to defeating the darkness, so I'm not likely to beat the crap out of him anytime soon."

Any further conversation was stopped as Warriv started to get his people ready to go.

--

(A/N) Gonna Jump ahead a bit now, the next chapter should wrap it up.

**11. Diablo 11 (Final)**

Ashera looked over the gathered warriors that had banded together in the three years since she had followed Alexander from the safety of the Rogue Encampment.

Cassandra had been the first to join, something that pleased Ashera greatly as the elemental sorceress had saved her life many times in battle.

Next had been Zherrach; Xander had found the nearly insane necromancer locked in a cell beneath the desert sands of Lut Gulan, and while the pale man had refused to speak of why the demons had imprisoned him, or what the had planned for him, he was thankful for the rescue. Ashera turned away from the collection of rotting flesh and bones that always massed around the pale man.

Gabriel and De'lann were a druid and assassin that they had picked up in the Kurast docks; the two had proven their worth in the jungles around the docks and had more than held their own when they had finally faced Mephisto.

And then there was Michael; the paladin had grown weary of holding the line against the forces of hell at the Pandemonium fortress, and had 'signed on' as Alexander would say.

At that thought, the one time Rogue looked around for the leader of their intrepid little band. She blinked as she finally noticed the Berserker sitting in a large basket as he scooted himself towards the stairs leading to the burning plane below. "ALEXANDER!" She shouted as the big man turned to her with a manic grin on his face, "What exactly do you think you're doing?" She asked.

Looking down at his chosen mode of transportation for a moment, the one time Zeppo looked back at her. "Umm… going to hell in a hand basket," he explained simply as if it was the most obvious thing on the planet.

After three years, Ashera had learned there were some things she would never understand about this man. For a moment she simply stared at him before waving for him to continue. She may not understand him, but she had realized long ago that she could either humor him, or he would come up with something even more absurd.

Turning to the gathered heroes, Ashera motioned them to follow before making her way over to where Alexander had finally slipped over the edge of the first step.

--

Xander blinked as the blue Soul Stone shattered, sending a pulse of power into the demonic void and the ground trembled for a moment as a roar echoed in the distance. Turning, Xander looked at the gathered warriors as they stared in the direction of the roar.

"I do believe you have angered the beast, Diablo," Michael said solemnly as the sound finally faded into the distance.

As one, the gathered warriors leapt several feet into the air as Xander shattered the second Soul Stone without warning, causing a another pulse and a doubling of the volume from the last surviving Prime Evil.

Turning away from the hell forge with a self satisfied smirk, the Berserker froze at the assembled glares his fellow adventurers had leveled on him. After a moment he had to check himself over for the cause of the looks-o-doom they had turned his way, Xander finally fell back on an age old tactic. "What?" His expression one of pure innocence.

--

Xander collapsed to a knee as he took a moment to observe the battle, he had just barely managed to avoid the red energy beam Diablo had shot at him when the major demon turned to face the other members of his team. Xander watched as a heavy overhand strike ripped a trio of deep furrows in Michael's plate mail before he was distracted by a series of electrical strikes from Cassandra. Taking a deep breath, Xander rushed back into battle with the big red demon.

A heavy chop against the beast's side earned a roar of pain as the massive creature turned its gaze on him. Jerking his axe out of the beast's flesh, Xander spun into a cyclone of destruction as he tried to cause as much physical damage as he could to the Lord of Terror.

Moving away from the whirlwind of death, Diablo spun and caught the small human with a heavy strike from his tail and he grinned as the human was flung backwards.

Turning to deal with the accursed sorceress, he was unprepared to receive a strong strike from a massive Zweihander and his roar of pain was sufficient proof that the Paladin's strike had caused damage.

--

Buffy grunted under the impact as Glory continued to batter her around the small battlefield. Riley and his team were currently trying desperately to break through the mental ward patients to get to the tower, while Giles, Anya and Willow were holding back a small army of knights who were determined to kill the Slayer's little sister.

Shoving the pain aside, Buffy head butted the hell goddess in the face as she tried to get enough room to put the troll hammer into use, a scream from above drew her attention to the top of the tower as a small demon raked it's claws across Dawn's stomach, starting the ritual.

Across the battlefield, the combatants stopped to stare as a hole was ripped in the very fabric of the universe and below, the insane Glorificus cackled as she finally gained what she had wanted for the last several hundred years.

No one was prepared for a six foot tall screaming Barbarian to come flying out of the portal and collapse in a heap on the broken bricks below, every single one of the beings present stared in shock as the portal closed with an audible pop.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY PORTAL?"

With a jerk, the armored being sat upright and turned to glare at the blonde, "Your portal? I didn't see your name on it," the man said with a smirk as he worked himself back to his feet, "Besides the bubble lady said to click my heels together three times and… Well you know the rest," he joked before finally focusing on the battered slayer, "Buffy… love what you've done with the place."

--

(A/N) I'm going to end it here, this story has dragged on far longer then I ever wanted it to and if I don't stop now, it's going to continue dragging on forever.

I hope you all enjoyed it.

-Tjin


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